


When We Remember Other Times

by Nerd_alert19



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26343406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerd_alert19/pseuds/Nerd_alert19
Summary: A look back at one of those "other times" on New Caprica.
Relationships: William Adama/Laura Roslin
Comments: 15
Kudos: 32





	When We Remember Other Times

**Author's Note:**

> Just thought I'd try my hand at one of those "other times" Bill mentions. This one is set on New Caprica in a rainstorm.

She slowly slid the tarp open and sighed, her heart heavy with disappointment. It had rained non-stop for three days straight. She allowed the tent flap to drop closed once more and moved back into the space determined that the moisture building in her eyes would not fall. She was too old to be crying over lost plans.

She moved to the makeshift stovetop and set the kettle on to boil. The day she had been looking forward to for weeks would be set aside for another time now. She felt the disappointment settle in her chest, but she knew the ache in her heart wasn't just about the canceled picnic she'd been looking forward to but was all about the man she was supposed to be sharing it with. He would have checked the weather conditions on the planet before attempting to bring a raptor down for shore leave and known by the massive amounts of rain they'd had that the picnic they'd talked about last month would have to be postponed. 

She hated the rain. 

She hadn't seen him since the weekend of the groundbreaking. She'd walked him to his raptor to see him off, and he'd mentioned not being able to take another trip to the planet for a full month and that was if Baltar would even let him come for the day. They'd made tentative plans for a hike and picnic by her lake. She'd planned and longed for this day since she stood there watching his raptor depart and had fervently prayed to all the lords of Kobol for the last two days that the rain would stop in time for them to keep their plans. She shot a look of frustration to the tent flap once more as she moved to fix her tea. 

She went about her tent dressing for the day and trying desperately to push back the sadness clouding over her. She missed him even more than she knew she would. They had formed a tight bond working together and surviving so many things as a team while they led their people. She knew she would miss being able to talk through things with him and that going so long without seeing someone she considered her closest friend would be difficult, but she never imagined how much she would ache for him. There was a physical longing she'd never felt before, and she'd thrown herself into the school thinking that she just needed to find purpose in her life.

It took her a while to realize just how much was missing in her life without having someone to share things with...without having _him_ to share things with. Even still she tried to chalk it up to just missing his companionship, but the groundbreaking festivities had dissolved that notion. That was the first time that they had no reason to spend time with each other outside of the desire to just share the day together. They'd actively sought each other out just to enjoy the pleasure of the other's company. It was the best day she'd ever spent with anyone, and she would have thought so even without the stuff they'd been smoking.

She just enjoyed spending time with him.

They had so many common interests that she had been surprised by at the beginning of their journey, but now she reveled in. They could talk for hours on literature alone, but he also had an incredible sense of humor and she'd laughed more that day than she could ever recall. That night she had fallen asleep wrapped in his arms and felt safe and secure for the first time in as long as she could remember. 

She grabbed a stack of papers from her school bag and sat down at the table dejectedly. She would need to keep herself busy if she had any hope of keeping the doldrums at bay throughout the day. She'd head down to Colonel Tigh's tent once the rain stopped to see if he could help her get a line to Galactica to talk to Bill. Perhaps he'd be able to work out something else soon. She wasn't sure she could handle another month-long wait. She was about two more days away from talking Cottle into claiming she had a medical emergency and needed the resources on Galactica's life station to survive. It should alarm her that she'd reached that level of desperation over a man, but instead, she was distractedly thinking of what illness she could reasonably fake to make it work. With all the recent rain she could probably come up with a convincing pulmonary disorder or two. 

She shook her head and turned back to the stack of papers she needed to mark. The words on the page were swimming, and she shook her head in frustration. 

It just wasn't fair. 

She took her glasses off and tossed them on the papers as her hands moved to wipe her eyes. She used the sleeve of her sweater to dry them and huffed in frustration as she picked her glasses up once more and pushed them back in place.

She would not spend all day crying. 

The whistling of the kettle offered a momentary reprieve from her thoughts, and she stood up and moved to the stovetop removing the kettle and turning off the heat. Before she could lift the kettle to pour the water into the mug she was startled by movement outside of her tent. Suddenly the flap opened, and a large dripping mass stepped inside. 

She felt her world shift and suddenly the ache was gone, and an overwhelming rush of joy filled its place. 

"You came," she breathed and once more felt the moisture building in her eyes. 

He tugged the hood down from his head and smiled brightly at her, "Of course I did. We have plans today." 

"In case you haven't noticed, Admiral, it's a little too wet outside for a picnic," she pointed out, but the smile on his face just grew impossibly larger. 

"I've been looking forward to this all month...not gonna let a little rain ruin our day." 

Her heart jumped at the admission that he'd been looking forward to it all month as well, but the steady sound of rain brought her back. "I didn't realize you had gained control over the weather, sir." 

"I haven't figured out how to stop the rain, but I have gotten good at contingency plans. Do you have boots?" 

"Yes..." she answered hesitantly. 

"Here," he said and handed her a heavy rain jacket he'd brought down from Galactica. "This will keep you dry if you pull the hood up." 

"We're going out in this?" She asked as she slipped her arms into the jacket. 

"Of course." 

She arched a brow as she questioned further, "To have a picnic in the rain?" 

"Do you trust me?" 

"You know I do," she answered without hesitation. 

"Then button up the jacket, Roslin, and come with me." 

She smiled and decided she could care less if they spent the day drenched and muddy. He was here and they were spending the day together so nothing else mattered. She finished buttoning up the jacket and stepped towards him. He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ears before carefully pulling up the hood of her jacket. The soft kiss he pressed to her forehead made her heart fill with happiness and anticipation flooded her from head to toe. He reached down and took her hand in his before ducking through the tent flaps and into the rain. 

It was truly ridiculous how giddy holding his hand made her feel. 

She followed him blindly through the downpour as they weaved their way past the tents and into the open space behind it. He moved quickly but measured his pace to allow her to keep up with him as they moved through the muddy terrain. She had no idea where they were going, but as she laced her fingers with his she decided that she couldn't possibly care. 

His pace slowed, and she looked up from watching where her feet were stepping to see the raptor ahead of them. He moved up the steps and onto the wing before turning to make sure she made it up over the slippery metal. Once he was sure she was steady he opened the Raptor hatch and lead her inside. 

He closed the hatch and then helped her out of her coat and placed it with his over the pilot's seat to dry out. He had been right about the jacket. Her sweater and hair were perfectly dry. She couldn't exactly say the same about her pants and boots though. He turned to her with a knowing smile and presented her with the sweatpants and pair of thick socks he'd pulled from his bag. He made a show of covering his eyes and turning his back to her so that she'd have privacy to get out of the wet clothes, and she laughed softly as she quickly exchanged her damp pants for the warm dry ones that he'd handed her. She draped the wet cloth over the co-pilot's seat to hopefully dry out. 

"What now, sir?" She asked as she pulled the warm thick socks on. 

He turned and opened a compartment at the back of the Raptor and pulled out several pillows which he tossed to the floor. She watched as he arranged them to create a makeshift pallet and then turned to his bag to pull out a thermos and small stack of books. 

"It's a little early yet for lunch so I thought you might want to pick out some new reading material." 

Her heart skipped at how well he knew her, and she carefully took the books from his hand to peruse her options while he uncapped the thermos and poured two cups of coffee. He carefully settled down onto the pillows and placed the cups on the bench behind him in order to free his hands to help her down next to him. 

She settled next to him closer than even the cramped space called for, but he didn't seem to mind. 

"See anything you like?" he asked, and she blushed realizing he was referring to the books. She very much liked what she saw, and it had nothing to do with the books he had given her to look over. 

He was out of uniform. The dark sweater fit him well and the material was softer than the wool uniform she always saw him in. She'd always found him dashingly handsome in uniform, but there was a lot to be said about what he was wearing now. 

He was watching her, waiting for a response, and she tried to think back to what he'd asked her. "I'm not familiar with any of those, but I trust your taste. You choose,” she suggested as she passed the stack back to him. 

He pulled one from the stack and moved to pass it to her, but she merely shook her head. "Let's read it together," she proposed and leaned back against the bench. "You can start," she insisted, and he smiled at her before turning to the book. 

He reached back and grabbed the cup of coffee he had poured and passed it to her with a warm smile. She took it and felt the warmth between her palms and the familiar scent reached her nose as she brought it to her lips for a slow sip. He opened the cover and his deep gravely voice began to fill the cabin as he read to her. She smiled happily and laid her head on his shoulder as the words spilled from his lips, and she closed her eyes trying very hard to concentrate on his words instead of those lips of his. 

Contentment washed over her and she was quite sure that this trumped the picnic they had originally planned. The fact that he had planned this and gone through all this trouble because he wanted to spend the time with her overwhelmed her with something she wasn’t sure how to articulate or express. She just knew she’d never felt anything like it before. 

She placed her mug on the floor beside her where she was sure it would be safe from spilling and leaned further into his side. Her hand reached up to slowly stroke the arm she was leaning against and she heard his voice catch just a little before the deep cadence took over once more. 

That sat there for a while taking turns reading and sipping coffee. The sound of the rain pelting against the raptor and the soothing tone of his voice filling her with warmth and happiness. She couldn’t imagine a more perfect or romantic setting and wondered if he felt the same. 

“You still awake?” he asked a while later, and though her eyes remained closed a smile spread across her face. 

“Mmm-hmm” she answered and pressed her cheek further into his shoulder. 

“You think I came all this way to watch you sleep?” 

“Mmm-hmm” she hummed again and his resulting chuckle made her heart fill with happiness. 

He smelled nice...very nice, and her hand sliding across his waist decided that he felt nice too...so very nice. 

“I still can’t believe you came all this way,” she spoke up and lifted her head to catch his expression. 

His smile was warm, and her heart fluttered realizing just how close they were sitting. 

  
“I’ve missed you,” he spoke softly, “and nothing could have kept me from getting here today.” 

Her breath caught at his confession, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep the moisture from gathering in her eyes. 

"I missed you too, Bill, so so much,” she said, and though the words were spoken softly, they seemed to reverberate off the walls of the raptor. 

They were frozen in the moment, so close they were sharing a breath and the air around them grew tense in anticipation. Her eyes left his slowly and made their way to his lips which seemed so very inviting. When she looked back up, he was watching her, patiently allowing her to make the next move. 

So she did. 

She closed the distance quickly before she could talk herself out of it and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was soft and tentative, and she pulled away with a blush crawling over her cheeks. 

“I umm...” she started but found herself interrupted by his lips pressing against hers once more. 

She sighed in pleasure at the feel of his hand reaching up and cupping her cheek as his lips moved slowly and thoroughly over her own. The feel of his fingers threading through her hair sent shivers down her spine and she decided she’d be perfectly content doing nothing else but kissing this man for the rest of her days. 

She felt the heat coursing through her veins, and her hands traveled up his chest until she felt the thrumming of his heart beneath her palm. It was racing like her own, and the knowledge of that was almost as stimulating as the feel of his tongue sweeping over hers. Almost...but not quite. 

The need to breathe finally overwhelmed them and they reluctantly pulled apart. They were both flushed and smiling. 

“Is that what you came all this way for, Sir?” she whispered teasingly, and his smile widened in response. 

“Oh, no. I came just to watch you sleep, but this was nice too.” 

She tapped his chest playfully, but the feel of his thumb brushing over her cheek had her humming. 

“Mmm....that felt a little different than the last time you kissed me.” 

“Well, last time we weren’t alone,” he pointed out and she bit her tongue to keep from adding the fact that she was also dying the last time. She was very much alive now.

“We're alone now...” she pointed out instead and felt his heartbeat quicken beneath her hand.

“Yes, we are,” he said and the hand cupping her cheek pulled her closer until his lips could brush over hers again. 

Her hands gripped his sweater as the feel of his mouth moving against hers so expertly sent her senses into overdrive. She felt dizzy and flushed, and she was enjoying every single second of it. She knew deep in her bones it had never been this good with anyone else. She didn’t even wonder why.

She knew why. 

He pulled away slowly and pressed his forehead to hers with his thumb once more moving rhythmically over her cheek. 

“I think about you...a lot,” she confessed softly, and his thumb hesitated briefly in its movement as he registered her words. 

His fingers brush a lock of hair behind her ear as his gravelly voice quietly replied, “I think about you a lot too, Laura.” 

She closed her eyes and a blissful smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Good thoughts?” 

“Only good thoughts. You drive me to distraction.” 

“Mmm...you mean it’s possible to distract the great Admiral Adama?” She asked and pulled back enough to see his face. 

“You’ve had that power since the moment we met.” 

She laughed at that, “Oh, but it was a different kind of distraction at the beginning. You were distracted trying to decide what to do with me. I was really good at pushing your buttons back then.” 

“You still are. They just generate a different response now,” he chuckled and she decided his laugh was her favorite sound. 

“Do they?” 

He nodded and placed a soft kiss against her lips. “In the beginning, you drove me crazy with your stubbornness and need to question everything I did.” 

“Well...not everything...” 

He ignored her argument and continued his explanation. “Now you drive me crazy with a need to see you...spend time with you...make sure you’re safe and healthy and happy.” 

“Is there desire now too, Sir?” she asked coyly. 

“There’s always been desire there. You’re an incredible woman...with really great legs.” 

She laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips. She pulled away and reached a hand up to push her fingers through his hair, smiling as the soft strands slid between her fingers. 

“It seems odd at the end of the world to feel incredibly lucky, but this all brought me to you...and I can’t imagine my life without you now, Bill.” 

His lips pressed gently to her forehead, and he pulled her down to lay on the soft pallet wrapped in his arms with her head on his shoulder. 

“I can’t imagine my life without you now either, Laura. It’s why I flew a raptor down in a rainstorm just to see you.” 

She smiled and closed her eyes as her fingers drew lazy patterns across his chest. “Thank the gods for those contingency plans of yours.” 

The laid there a while in silence each content to simply exist in the same space. She had almost drifted off when he spoke. 

“Tell me about your cabin.” 

“Well, _our_ cabin will be simple," she stated pointedly, "just big enough for the two of us and all of our books. We’ll have a front porch so we can sit out and look at the lake, and on days like this we can sit and watch the rain.” 

“You didn’t seem so happy about the rain this morning,” he said knowingly and even though his sweater he could feel her smile against his shoulder. 

“Well, that’s because I thought you weren’t coming. I’m perfectly fine with it now. It’s peaceful to sit and watch it.” 

“Let’s do it then,” he said and moved to get up. 

“Do what?” She asked and watched as he moved towards the hatch. 

“Watch the rain,” he replied and then hit the button to open the raptors hatch. “It’s not a porch but it’s the best I can do on short notice.” He then turned back and rearranged the pillows so that they could turn and face the now open hatch door. 

He grabbed his bag and started passing her the containers of food he had brought and then grabbed a blanket before once more joining her on the pallet. 

After dropping the blanket over their laps, he started removing the lids from the containers. 

She’d never been so happy to eat algae noodles and supposed her present company really did wonders for her attitude. 

He passed her the necessary utensils and poured them each water from a second thermos he had brought. 

They ate as the sounds and smells of fresh rain filled the space around them. She smiled thinking this was exactly what she pictured when she thought of her cabin. Afternoons spent just like this with Bill. When she closed her eyes and thought of it, this was exactly what she dreamed of and he’d just brought it to life for her. 

They packed up the empty containers and curled up together under the blanket. Her body relaxed into his and her head fit perfectly in the space between his neck and shoulder. 

“I know you have to leave soon,” she sighed, and his arms tightened around her a bit more, “but I just want you to know how much I don’t want you to.” 

He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “I want you to know how much I wish I didn’t have to.” 

“That’s good to know,” she smiled and brushed her lips against his neck. 

His eyes closed at the contact, and she felt his hum of pleasure filter through his body and into her own. “I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Baltar has requested a full report of the supply run schedule for next month. Think I could steal your time for a few hours after?” 

“As many hours as you want,” she replied and then steeled herself to further the offer. “Maybe you could stay the night….with me….head back to Galactica the next day.” 

There was a moment of silence as exactly what she was offering settled between them. “I’ll make breakfast,” he said and a delighted smile spread across her face. 

She sat up and turned her head to be able to watch his expression. “And if it rains?” she asked as her hand reached up to gently trace her fingers over his cheek. 

“I’ll bring you a rain jacket,” he replied with a grin, and her laugh bubbled up and filled the space between them moments before her lips found his. 

She would forever carry this day with her in her heart. In the months and years to come when she closed her eyes and thought about this planet and her cabin, she’d remember this rainy afternoon wrapped in his arms; and the dreams of afternoons spent on the front porch would be replaced with the longing for another cozy afternoon in a raptor stealing kisses while the rain poured down around them. 

She’d found she didn’t really mind the rain. 


End file.
